In Re Tyrone Noel Nunn ( 2024 )

2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 2 3 3 IN RE TYRONE NOEL NUNN Case No.: 2:24-cv-01374-CDS-BNW 4 4 5 ORDER 5 6 6 7 On July 26, 2024, pro se plaintiff Tyrone Noel Nunn, an inmate in the custody of the 7 8 Nevada Department of Corrections, submitted documents titled “Civil Paliminairy Examination,” 8 9 Small Claims Demand Letter,” a second “Small Claims Demand Letter,” and “Prevailing 9 10 Scriptous.” ECF Nos. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4. Neither document constitutes a complaint. And Nunn has 10 11 neither paid the full $405 filing fee for a civil action nor applied to proceed in forma pauperis. See 11 12 ECF No. 1. Nunn is a frequent litigator in this District and the Court has repeatedly reminded him 12 13 that to initiate a civil action, he must file a single, complete and signed complaint with all the 13 14 information called for by the Court’s approved form and either pay the required filing fee or file a 14 15 complete application to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant Nunn an extension of 15 16 time to correct the several defects with his initiating documents. 16 17 I. DISCUSSION 17 18 A. Nunn must file a single, complete and signed complaint. 18 19 “A civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 3. 19 20 Generally, a complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 20 21 [plaintiff] is entitled to relief” and “a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the 21 22 alternative or different types of relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8. “A civil-rights complaint filed by a person 22 23 who is not represented by an attorney must be submitted on the form provided by this court or 23 24 must be legible and contain substantially all the information called for by the court’s form.” Nev. 24 25 LSR 2-1. And the complaint must be signed personally by the unrepresented party. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25 26 11(a). Furthermore, a party must state its claims or defenses in numbered paragraphs, each limited 26 27 as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(b). And “each claim 27 28 founded on a separate transaction or occurrence . . . must be stated in a separate count.” Id. 28 2 involving the same subject matter at the same time in the same court and against the same 2 3 defendant.’” Adams v. Cal. Dept. of Health Servs., 487 F.3d 684, 688 (9th Cir. 2007), overruled 3 4 on other grounds by Taylor v. Sturgell, 553 U.S. 880 (2008), (quoting Walton v. Eaton Corp., 563 4 5 F.2d 66, 70 (3d Cir. 1977)). And duplicative litigation by a litigant who is proceeding under in 5 6 forma pauperis status can be dismissed as malicious and thus constitute a strike under the Prison 6 7 Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1915. See Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1105 n.2 (9th 7 8 Cir. 1995). 8 9 It is not clear whether any of the documents that Nunn filed are intended to constitute a 9 10 complaint. None of the documents have all the necessary elements to constitute a complaint. So 10 11 the Court does not accept any of the filed documents as an operative complaint in this case. The 11 12 Court gives Nunn an extension of time to file a single complaint that complies with these rules and 12 13 indicates the claims and defendants that he is pursuing in this case. The Court reiterates for Nunn’s 13 14 benefit that he may not bring multiple different complaints in a single case. Nor may he bring the 14 15 same complaint in multiple different cases. Rather, Nunn must bring a single, unique complaint in 15 16 each of his cases. 16 17 B. Nunn must either pay the $405 filing fee or apply for in forma pauperis status. 17 18 This Court must collect filing fees from parties initiating civil actions. 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 18 19 As of December 1, 2023, the fee for filing a civil-rights action is $405, which includes the $350 19 20 filing fee and the $55 administrative fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(b). “Any person who is unable to 20 21 prepay the fees in a civil case may apply to the court for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” Nev. 21 22 LSR 1-1. For an inmate to apply for in forma pauperis status, the inmate must submit all three of 22 23 the following documents to the Court: (1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma 23 24 Pauperis for Inmate, which is pages 1–3 of the Court’s approved form, that is properly signed by 24 25 the inmate twice on page 3; (2) a completed Financial Certificate, which is page 4 of the Court’s 25 26 approved form, that is properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and (3) a 26 27 copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month 27 28 period. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1)–(2); Nev. LSR 1-2. In forma pauperis status does not relieve 28 1| an inmate of his or her obligation to pay the filing fee, it just means that the inmate can pay the fee 9| in installments. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b). 3} IL CONCLUSION 4 It is therefore ordered that Nunn has until September 2, 2024, to file a single, complete 5| and signed complaint stating the claims and defendants that he is pursuing in this action. 6 It is further ordered that Nunn has until September 2, 2024, to either pay the full $405 7| filing fee or file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three required documents: (1) a completed application with the inmate’s two signatures on page 3, □□□ □ 9| completed financial certificate that is signed both by the inmate and the prison or jail official, and 10| (3) acopy of the inmate’s trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. 11 Nunn is cautioned that this action will be subject to dismissal if he fails to timely comply 12| with this order. 13 The Clerk of the Court is directed to send plaintiff Tyrone Nunn the approved form for 14| filing a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint and instructions for the same and the approved form 15| application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate and instructions for the same. '6 DATED: August 2, 2024 17 18 ° on renlenechst pase 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28